The two clubs with the richest owners in world football will clash tonight when Newcastle United welcome Manchester City to St James’ Park. While the tie is the ultimate in footballing largesse, the stage is less bourgeois. The Carabao Cup third round is not the stage one thinks of when assessing the richest of the rich. But the trophy is one that means a lot to one of the teams competing tonight and could provide a vital spark to the other.
First, Manchester City. While the EFL Cup is oft-derided, but manager Pep Guardiola has cherished the competition during his reign. Under the Spaniard, City have won the trophy on four occasions. Guardiola’s efforts on this stage have seen the Cityzens rise to second on the list of all-time winners.
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Their interest in the competition helped hold the fort at home while European excursions ended in disappointment. It was the first piece of 2018/19’s domestic treble. While the Premier League was the ultimate prize and Guardiola also snared two FA Cups, City fans identified with the EFL Cup. Perhaps it was that leftover underdog spirit from before the Abu Dhabi riches arrived, but the supporters at the Etihad cherished the unloved three-handled cup more than most.
Newcastle United have not won a trophy since 1969’s Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, unless you count the Intertoto Cup. But either way, it has been decades since the Magpies last tasted silverware. They came awfully close last season, reaching the Carabao Cup final before losing 2-0 to Manchester United.
The passionate and vast support for Newcastle at Wembley showed the hunger this club has to return to the top of English football. 52,000 fill St James’ Park for every home game and will no doubt do so again for the visit of City. Now they have the ownership to back up their ambitions. Having finished fourth in the Premier League last season, Newcastle are a Champions League club again.
The only thing missing is a trophy. In previous years, Newcastle have had to sideline cup ambitions to keep the ship afloat in the league. But the Magpies finally have the squad depth to compete on all fronts.
Sunday’s battering of Sheffield United was a historic occasion. Newcastle became the first club to win 8-0 twice in Premier League history. They were also the first club to have eight different goalscorers in a Premier League tie. But there was another landmark at Bramall Lane. Manager Eddie Howe had a bench at his disposal lavished with players who cost a combined £225 million. Anthony Gordon, Tino Livramento, Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali were among the replacements available.
The fact Newcastle have such strength throughout their squad bodes well for this competition in particular. With Premier League and Champions League games coming thick and fast, a deep well of quality players is a recipe for Carabao Cup success. It is a competition everyone at the club takes seriously considering how close they came to winning it last term. The galvanising moment of a first trophy lift in five decades would be massive for Newcastle.
It is unfortunate for them that they face a club with deep pockets, a deeper squad and a glorious history in this cup. But with both teams sure to rotate with league action in mind, this one is far from cut-and-dry. Newcastle are underdogs but they also now sit atop the financial elite. They are a Champions League club again. This is a tall order but not an insurmountable one for the Magpies.
Whoever wins tonight’s clash at St James’ Park would have to be considered among the frontrunners to win the whole competition. For City that would perhaps not mean as much as it once did, but then with the treble clinched last season there must be a desire to reclaim the one trophy they didn’t win. For Newcastle this is the chance to put the foundations in place for their new era. It might only be the Carabao Cup, but tonight that means everything.
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